Gary Rowett takes his Blues players back to the first ground he visited as Birmingham City boss - way back in November 2014 - as City take on Wolves at Molineux this afternoon.

Rowett has overseen a well-publicised upturn in fortunes for the football club, to the extent where they're now challengers for a top six finish nearly 18 months after his appointment.

The former Blues player talked handling run-in pressure, the pride in wearing the royal blue shirt, the change in atmosphere at the club since the last trip to the Black Country and the potential of bypassing nearest and dearest rivals, Aston Villa.

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Birmingham City prepare for Wolves derby

Can the Blues players handle the pressure that comes with a play-off race?

"In our two full seasons at Burton we got into the play-offs twice so we have that experience of this stage of the season.

"It’s about keeping your nerve and not panicking too much after defeats because there is very little you can do to claw back losses so it’s about being positive and not changing too much.

"Burnley are the team that has made the least changes in terms of their line-up and in terms of their personnel this season.

"We’ve had little blips but you’ve just got to trust the players to get through it and you’ve got to work incredibly hard to keep going.

Birmingham City manager Gary Rowett

"I think Burnley are a good example and we certainly had it at Burton.

"And you can see in the timescale that has elapsed since that they’ve got some really strong players that can handle the mentality of being where they are and that’s a crucial part of it.

"If some of your players have not been there before it’s whether they can?

"It’s difficult for me to answer that question but I think they can and I hope they can and certainly we’ll learn something in these 11 games regardless of what happens.

"From experience you’d far rather be talking about a play-off push and being in the play-offs than saying we need to win six or seven games to stay in the division because that is an altogether different pressure and one I wouldn’t want to feel again."

How have Blues changed from November 1st, 2014 - the last trip to Molineux?

"If you look at the situation then, budget-wise, it’s not much different. That’s why I believe the achievement so far has been a monumental one by everyone at the club.

"But there was trepidation. Can we turn this around? The great thing for me is seeing, on the whole, players working to the best of their ability and for each other.

"They have given everything for the club. At that point you could argue there was some apathy around the place.

"Since then, they have dug in and been outstanding for me. It’s been an incredibly proud 16 months. We just hope we can go again and squeeze more out. They are a great group.

"There isn’t a group in the division that works as hard as this one."

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Pride in the shirt?

"We are in this position and a lot of our players haven’t been in it. Who knows how they are going to react? Hopefully positively.

"The first thing I said to them – again I know it’s a cliché – as someone who played for the club is that the bare minimum you can give these fans because it’s a hard-working support-base is endeavour and desire to work hard for the shirt.

"I told them: ‘be competitive’, ‘be committed.’ And I think they have been.

"Yes, we all want to see great technical ability and quality.

Birmingham City's Paul Robinson (centre) celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game against Derby County.